More information: At the moment, the museum features just the gift shop and an exhibit focused on the 10th Mountain Division and its impact on snowsports. The rest of the exhibit areas will be installed in April, with a full opening scheduled for Friday, May 4. Visit http://www.skimuseum.net to learn more.

VAIL — It’s taken years to accomplish, but the Colorado Snowsports Museum is ready to show a brand-new face to the world.

The museum, long located in the Vail Village Transportation Center, is in the final stages of a $2.4 million transformation. What used to be a bit like an attic full of artifacts is becoming a state-of-the-art museum dedicated to the state’s snowsports history.

In order to get open for an event sponsored by the Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, the museum finished one exhibit area, dedicated to the 10th Mountain Division. That unit, which began in World War II, trained at Camp Hale, between Red Cliff and Leadville.

That high-elevation camp taught soldiers to ski and fight. The men who returned from World War II — the unit took heavy casualties in fighting from the Aleutian Islands to the Italian Alps — essentially invented the modern U.S. skiing industry. That’s why the 10th had to come first.

There aren’t many of those snow soldiers left, and all are now in their 90s.

One of those veterans is Dick Over. Over, a longtime Denver-area resident, is also a longtime friend of the ski museum. At a recent reception for donors and other museum supporters, Over got his first look at the new exhibit.

“I more than approved,” Over said.

The exhibit dedicated to the 10th has a good bit of restored video, something Over said helps tell the unit’s story.

“I was thrilled with it,” Over said. “I’ve heard some awfully good comments from people who remember those days.”

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Those feelings were echoed by those who attended the Burton reception.

But, Frampton said, the museum’s board and staff “ground away, got it done and got into a full partnership with the town.”

That partnership included the town-owned museum space. It also included a $500,000 donation to the project, payable when the rest of the fundraising was complete.

While the museum is in Vail, it’s for the entire state. That hasn’t always been an easy idea to pitch. Tjossem said the new exhibits have helped get the rest of the state’s ski industry committed to the facility.

“If it weren’t for skiing, we wouldn’t be here,” museum supporter Dave Gorsuch said. Gorsuch, whose business started in an old gas station in Gunnison in the early 1960s, said he’s pleased with the museum’s recognition of the rest of the state’s resorts.

“It’s great to recognize the history of skiing in Colorado,” Gorsuch said. “It has to do with the entire state.”

IF YOU GO …

What: Colorado Snowsports Museum.

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Where: Vail Village Transportation Center.

Cost: Admission is free.

More information: At the moment, the museum features just the gift shop and an exhibit focused on the 10th Mountain Division and its impact on snowsports. The rest of the exhibit areas will be installed in April, with a full opening scheduled for Friday, May 4. Visit http://www.skimuseum.net to learn more.